So there I was. Looking for the eight remaining burning embers I needed to complete the latest Wintergrasp Daily. We’d already lost, so I figured everyone Horde was going to be gathered outside of the Vault looking for invites. Or shopping, or hearthing. You know, what winners do.

But the embers were all ashes and there were bones scattered here and there. I was alone except for just 2 other green names. I don’t leave the raid so we can continue to share our efforts. Turns out there must be multiple raids, because we were basically soloing. One guy’s kill is not lootable by me. So be it. “Divided we fall.”

Anyway I see a green name, Death Knight, run by below, and then a red name. A Shaman. Oh, this isn’t going to end well for the Shaman, right?

Except the Shaman was chasing the DK down. :/ Hmm.

Well, he’s a brother in arms, this DK, and it’s just a Shaman. So I join in.

The Shaman destroys the Death Knight.

And inbetween the flashes of Holy Light and Lightning I see the gear. Okay, it looks like basic PvP stuff. The maces are orange, so they’re the Crusader Seal maces. Two of them, nice. Except why is this guy smoking me? I’m not hitting him, he’s destroying me. WTF?

I alt-tab out and go into the Armory. Seems our Shaman has over 1000 Resilience. Dag. I’m running 400 or so. He also had 7k health on me, and double the mana. Those maces weren’t Crusader Seal maces, not doing up to 608 damage each. That must have been arena weapons.

Okay, I’m beginning to get the picture. He’s on two Arena Teams, 2s and 3s. Face to face type. He’s gotten himself the Conqueror title, so exalted with every battleground. He’s wearing solid pvp gear from his head to his toes, pinkie finger included.

And, granted, even if his gear hadn’t been top notch, this guys been PvPing since he left his crib. I’ve been PvPing since the last couple of weeks. I’d be outmatched if he was dual wielding spaghetti.

I know there’s mouseover “gear score” add-ons. I figured why did I need to have that? Like I needed the boost to my ego (rather, the kick to it’s head) over and over? “Oh, look. The NPC vendor selling breaksticks has a higher gear score than me.” :) ) I don’t need a “gear score” ability.

Well, if I’m sizing up the competition and deciding whether or not I’m going to be a hero, or a lemming, a little more information would certainly come in handy.

One Response to Gear Score, Schmear Score. But, wait…

For what it’s worth, the “gear score” addons work by /inspecting a toon.

You can inspect people of your own faction any time, as long as they’re close by.
You can only inspect people of the other faction when you’re in a sanctuary area like Dalaran.

So, for this particular case of deciding whether to join a PvP duel, a gear score addon wouldn’t help becuase it’s not able to inspect a hostile target. Your first reaction, checking the visual appearance of the armor, is the only thing that works.